A New End
by squish13
Summary: Tis the season for more Horror Emblem! Post-game Awakening. Grima has been defeated and the Shepherds are on their way back to Ylisstol to celebrate. When the princess from the future becomes lost, she may return for a nasty surprise. Sorry, I don't summarize well.


**A/N: In tribute of this upcoming Halloween, I present to you another Horror Emblem! Post-game stuffs. I wouldn't know if this feels rushed or not, pacing is not my strong point, no matter how long I've been writing. Also, if you spot any mistakes, please let me know, I didn't follow my entire process with this piece here. Please be sure to leave a review when you're done. Enjoy. Word Count (2,913) **

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Grima had finally been defeated, put to sleep once more by the Exalted Falchion. The Shepherds could finally return home. There was to be a huge celebration, in honor of the heroes who defeated the fell dragon, at the capital. After that, everyone could get on with their normal lives.

Lucina was always conflicted about what she would do when the mission she came to the past for had been completed. Should she stay with her family, and the little version of her, in Ylisstol, or should she move on and leave them to their own lives? It was something she thought more and more on as they drew closer to home. Their home.

She couldn't sleep this night. Even though Grima was defeated, the same nightmares still haunted her sleeping hours. _Was_ the future saved? How long would it _be_ until Grima rose again? In order to clear her head of these thoughts, she decided to take another early-morning stroll.

At this time of the year, the leaves had begun to change color and fall off their branches to coat the ground in a thin layer. Lucina missed this beauty. It was something that her world had been robbed of. Of course, she couldn't see any of it. The weather had been terrible since they arrived in Ylisse. She could barely see anything more than ten feet in front of her, only the grey of the fog that would not lift.

Lucina left camp, hoping she could spend some time alone on her walk. Her hand shifted to her Parallel Falchion, always on her. It became a habit in her own timeline. She would never take any chances with this. In this kind of weather, with such limited vision, who knew what could come after her.

After wandering for about an hour on her own, Lucina realized she had not kept track of where she had been going. In this heavy fog, she was unsure of how she would make it back to camp. Out of all the people to get lost, it had to be her. She would get quite the earful from her mother when she found out about this.

Lucina was startled by the sound of a snapping branch behind her. She thought she had heard footsteps earlier, but dismissed that as only hearing things. Now she was sure that she was being tailed and wouldn't stand for it. The swordswoman spun around to face the noise, Falchion drawn. Through the fog she could make out the silhouette of a person wearing what looked a lot like a tactician's coat. The stranger stepped out of the fog, arms up in surrender to show that there was no ill intent. After doing that, she quickly recognized who it was. "_Morgan_?! What in Naga's name are you _doing_ here? I could have _killed_ you!"

The cobalt-haired tactician lowered his arms, thankful that his sister recognized him. He might as well tell her the truth, she couldn't be too mad at him. "Well, I saw you leaving camp and wondered why, so I thought I might follow you." He saw Lucina put a hand up to her forehead. "Are you lost? Didn't Mother teach us better than to…"

"_Yes! Okay!_ I'm lost." She snapped. "It's this damned fog. How can I find any landmarks in this?"

"Well, I can lead us back." He said confidently. His smile quickly dissipated. "I… don't know which way is back…"

"Come now, Morgan. You must have some way back to…"

ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR

"What was that?" She stared right at her brother, expecting him to have made the noise.

"Don't look at me like that." Morgan's arms went up in defense. "I swear to you, it wasn't me."

"Well, what could it have been?" Once again, the noise sounded. At this point, Lucina knew exactly what it was. "Risen…"

"What?"

She took Morgan's hand and ran towards the noise. "Risen! They're back! We need to go!"

Morgan's eyes widened in shock. "_How_…"

Lucina stopped and looked back at her brother. "I don't know, but everyone's in danger." She turned and headed off, expecting Morgan to stay close so she wouldn't lose him.

The two kept following the noise, muffled by the fog, unable to come across its source. Rain started falling, making the sound even harder to follow. Eventually, nothing. The royal siblings stopped. Lucina turned to her brother with a worried expression on her face. "What now?" Morgan asked.

"I…" Lucina's gaze drifted to the ground. She was the one that had gotten them lost in the first place. Now their friends were in trouble, and there was nothing they could do to help. "I don't know."

The two could hear heavy steps that seemed be getting closer. Something was approaching the two, something big. They drew their weapons, prepared for the worst. As the figure got closer, they recognized it as a taguel. When it noticed them, it bounded over and transformed back to their size. The coward, Yarne. "G-guys! You're alive! Oh, I thought you were dead." He was looking around, seeming to be even more terrified than usual.

"Yarne," Lucina said in a calm tone, placing her hand on his shoulder to try and calm him down. "I need you to explain to us what's happened."

"Risen." He said while wringing his hands together. "Like, super Risen or something. Bigger, even stronger than the ones we've faced. Gods, so much blood." His ears twitched as he caught something neither Lucina nor Morgan could hear. "Gah! You two need to leave! Just go!"

The siblings watched as their friend ran off. Morgan turned to his sister. "Are we… are we still heading back?"

Lucina gave no verbal answer. She just walked toward what she assumed was the direction their camp was in. Falchion was drawn. She didn't care what was attacking her friends, she needed to help however she could.

The two carried on, on guard for any sort of attack. The only sound came from the squish of the earth under their boots and the falling rain. The fog had lifted somewhat, though it was still very limiting. Another figure approached the two. Humanoid in shape, though very large. The glowing eyes of crimson gave away that it was one of those super Risen Yarne had spoken of. He was right, it had to be at_ least_ eight feet in height. It wielded no weapon, but looked strong enough to easily crush a person.

Morgan gaped at the beast, but his sister had no problem charging it. Lucina unleashed her flurry of attacks. This Risen seemed like it wasn't taking any significant damage from these strikes. The Risen swiped at Lucina, sending her flying towards a tree. She seemed to be winded from the blow by this beast.

Morgan broke out of his trance when he saw his sister get hurt like that. "Lucina!" He sent out a blast of Thoron at this beast, drawing its attention away from his sister. This attack did leave the beast stunned. "_Magic."_ He muttered to himself._ "These things have low resistance to magic._" At this realization, he sent out another Thoron bolt out at the creature, doing a significant amount of damage to it.

The beast wasn't quite done yet. It started charging at Morgan. He couldn't believe how fast it could actually be. He just barely managed to dodge its attack, sending out the next bolt of Thoron at the beast. It stopped moving, and disappeared in the familiar purple mist. Morgan remembered his sister had been injured by the beast and ran over to her. She had managed to get back up on her own, yet was clutching at her chest, still trying to get her breath back. "Lucina… you alright?"

She picked her Parallel Falchion back off the ground, ignoring the discomfort in her chest. "Well, I have been better."

"Lucina, that thing," He said, gesturing over to where the Risen had fallen. "Are you sure you want to go back to camp?"

"Morgan, all I care about right now, is seeing if our friends are alright. We need to get back to camp."

"But-"

"But what, Morgan? Think about _our parents_. Wouldn't _you_ want to see if they made it away from that thing? I'm heading back, I hope you are as well."

"I…" Morgan clenched his fists. His sister started heading away again. Ignoring all those warning signals going off in his head, he followed her.

Lucina didn't know how long the trek back to camp took, definitely longer than it should have been, but the sight of the camp left her in shock. Tents had been torn down, left in piles of rags. Many of the Shepherds, not even fully dressed, lay in bloody heaps on the ground. Lucina made her way to where the mounts had been kept. A few had been released and fled the sight, but others were only as lucky as their masters. "_Why_…" She uttered to herself.

Morgan had come up to his sister. "I don't see our parents here." His sister didn't respond. "Luce?"

Tears had already fallen from her. She wiped them away before turning to her brother. "I'm sorry, Morgan. It's just… It brings back some sour memories."

"Hold on. Are you saying this happened before?"

"In our time... Sorry, Morgan, it's… something I'd rather not talk about."

"Oh…" He looked back toward the wreckage of camp. "Even that huge Risen?"

"Not quite." She glanced over her brother's shoulder for one moment to see a human figure making its way over to them. What was once joy for finding someone else alive was soon replaced by despair as it turned out to be another Risen. Not only that, but it was one of their comrades. Their own cousin, Owain, eyes glowing red, advanced on the two. "No…"

The beast, that was at one point Owain, charged them. Morgan's back was still turned, but Lucina could see. "Lucina, what's wrong?"

"Get down!" She shoved her brother aside as the Risen swung Owain's old blade, Missiletainn, at the two. Lucina crashed down on top of her brother, scrambling to get up before Owain got to them both in this vulnerable state. She ignored her brother for a moment to focus on the myrmidon that seemed to be keeping its attention on her. As long as her brother was safe, that was all that mattered.

It swung at her, she managed to bring Falchion up to block this attack. Without human limits, the Risen could keep pressure on its blade against Lucina's. Due to the injury Lucina sustained earlier, she knew she could not keep up with this creature, and would have to end this sooner rather than later. She came around with her counter, rolling behind the creature and sending Falchion through its back. Lucina couldn't watch as her cousin disappeared in the same cloud as Risen.

Morgan knew better than to disturb his sister when she was in this sort of state. That was their cousin, and she just had to... He had to do something for her though. How would he break the ice here? "So thank you for crushing me back there."

"Thank you for… _crushing you_?" Well, he most definitely picked the wrong words in this situation. She was furious. "Did you not see what _happened _back there? _Anything at all_?"

"I'm sorry, it was a bad time…"

"Yes, it was."

Morgan tried to see if he could find anything else through this fog. Nothing at first, but then he saw his comrades approaching… as Risen. "Uhh… Lucina."

"What is it this time, because whatever it is, I don't want to…" Her eyes widened as she saw the fallen Shepherds approach.

Was there a chance to defeat them? Morgan wasn't sure with his _friends. _He knew their skill, maybe he could take them in a one-on-one fight, but all of them? "How do we-"

"Run."

"What?"

Lucina looked right into her brother's eyes, the Brand in his eye, mirroring her own. "There's nothing we can do. Just run. Run!"

The two took off from the camp that had been overrun by Risen. What was going on here? Just a few hours ago they were trying to get back to camp. Now, they were fleeing for their lives from their own friends. Gods, did anyone else manage to make it out of there in time?

Morgan was barely keeping up with his sister. Though he was just as much of a bookworm, at least he got out more than his mother. Of course he wasn't quite up to par with his father and sister. "Hold on… Lucina. I… need to breathe."

Lucina slid to a stop along the wet earth, nearly toppling over, to let her brother catch his breath. Her eyes kept scanning for signs of anything following. So far, there had been nothing, but they couldn't just keep waiting around like this. "Can you hurry this up a bit?"

Morgan's arms dropped after his sister's comment. "Because I can "hurry up" breathing."

Lucina looked back at her brother. "You know what I mean. We only have a limited amount of time here. Who knows if those Risen are still after us?"

"I don't think…"

A horse came closer to the two. It was Frederick's, Mystery was her name. Slouched over her back was Frederick himself. His arm looked like it had been crushed by a Hammer, and he was holding onto his side, where he had a deep gash along his abdomen. He didn't look like he could hold on much longer in this state. "P-Prince Morgan, Princess Lucina… the Exalt, he…"

"Sir Frederick, please, what is going on here? What has happened to Father?" Lucina couldn't get much of a response out of the Great Knight. He was still alive, but would not be if he didn't get help immediately. "Morgan, I need you to take Mystery, and find help for Frederick."

"And leave you alone?" He knew from the look she was giving him that she would not back down from this. He just wished he could be there for her. "What if… what if he doesn't make it?"

"At least he'll be away from all of this." She watched her brother climb onto Mystery, and take off. "Good luck, little brother."

Lucina started her search for her father in the direction Frederick had come from. This fog was truly getting on her nerves. Why did the weather have to be so horrid? On top of that, she was soaked through. Cold, and now, alone, from sending her brother off with Frederick. Well, at least he was away from all this. She wondered if she would see him again. Something like this did happen in her timeline though. Granted, not everything played out the same as it did then, but it was eerily similar. A camp being destroyed by Risen, and sending her brother off with an injured comrade. Of course, she had her other Shepherds along, but they were gone this time. She was alone, and she prayed to Naga, that she wouldn't lose her family again.

Of course, not paying attention to the direction she was headed would put her right in the spot she needed to be. The rain was coming down harder than before, but she could make out a figure, waiting for her. It was Chrom. She was delighted to see her father again, and would have run right up to him, but something prevented her from moving.

He looked right at her, and what she saw made her heart drop. He was a Risen. She wanted to break down right there, and would have, if her survival wasn't at stake. The beast lunged at her with a Noble Rapier, Lucina just managing to back out of striking distance. She forgot how fast her father could be when he wanted, and now there was nothing to limit him. She could barely keep up with the creature. She was injured, cold, and exhausted, she could only keep up for so long before making a mistake.

While trying to dodge an attack from this Risen version of her father, she slipped, and came crashing to the ground. Just as she thought her life was to end, the Risen Lord just stopped. From behind, stepped the familiar form of her mother. This wasn't the mother she knew though, the eyes it bore, were that of Grima.

Lucina finally broke down. They had defeated Grima, she saved humanity from the fell dragon's wrath for the next thousand years. For it to return now… It took her family and friends over the course of one morning. How could she have failed?

The beast that wore her mother's face tilted her chin up. "What's wrong, dear? Disappointed all your friends are gone, serving me instead?"

"_How? _How could you be back?"

Grima stood up, tapping her chin, looking for an answer to this. "Well, when your father landed that '_final blow_' against me, my spirit transferred to the next available vessel, which happened to be…"

"My mother…"

"You cannot kill a god, my dear girl. Your father is dead, your brother is dead…"

Morgan… No.

Grima knelt down next to her. "Now, you can join them." Grima summoned a bolt of Thoron, sending it right through the girl's heart.

She had failed. Darkness would consume the world once more.

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**A/N: There it is. I have to say, the weather here wasn't just some sort of cliche, it's been absolutely horrible where I am, so of course it leaked through. I hoped you enjoyed this Horror Emblem here :) Once again, be sure to leave a Review. They are what keep me going. Have a nice Fall/ Autumn, whatever you call it!**


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